There are many important decisions involved in building your own home, some of which can significantly impact the finished outcome. While it can be tempting to get carried away thinking about the fixtures and fittings of your new home, its very foundations are what should be your first point of concern.
The strongest, sturdiest homes are often constructed from brick or block, but which should you choose for your new home?
Brick or block – which should you choose?
While cost will rightfully come into your assessment of which material to build your home from, affordability should never be your sole concern. Instead, you need to think about durability and sustainability, too, to ensure that you get to enjoy your newly built home for many years to come.
To help you decide, here are the pros of both brick and block:
Bricks
Eco-friendly
Bricks can now be made from materials that are easily recyclable, making them a more attractive choice for those who take the environment into consideration.
Excellent fire protection
Made of highly compressed earthen materials, dense bricks leave little space for combustion to ignite and spread, offering your home excellent protection against the ravages of fire. Limit the use of wooden materials throughout your home, and you can give it (and you and your belongings) even more fire protection.
Durable
Brick structures typically last for many decades (provided you use a skilled masonry contractor) and a home built from bricks should truly stand the test of time. Extremely strong and capable of withstanding high impact without denting or cracking, a brick built home is an exceptionally durable one.
Minimal maintenance
Regular maintenance is typically not required for homes made from brick, and as long any repairs that may arise are carried out by a professional masonry contractor at the earliest, your brick home should stand strong for decades.
While bricks are more expensive than blocks as a building material, their low maintenance costs make up for this.
Blocks
More affordable
Cement blocks are a cheaper material to construct a home from than bricks, which can make them a more attractive option for anyone on a limited budget.
Lightweight
Blocks are lighter than bricks, which gives masonry contractors more freedom to work with them, and helps to reduce the dead load on a structure; making them more suitable for modern building designs.
Durable
While not as durable as bricks, cement blocks still have the ability to endure earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes.
Eco-friendly
Cement blocks are eco-friendly and sustainable as they’re made from cement and coarse aggregates.
While each material has its own merits, a conversation with a local construction company or masonry contractor might help you decide whether blocks or bricks will be the best choice to build your new home from.